An interview with illusionist Joshua Jay

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

He holds the Guinness World Record for the most selected cards found from a shuffled deck in one minute — 21. He fooled Penn and Teller on their magic competition television series, Penn & Teller: Fool Us. He’s been named Magician of the Year by the Society of American Magicians.

And he’s a nice Jewish boy who was raised in Canton and graduated OSU with a senior thesis that became his first book, The Amazing Book of Cards.

Magician Joshua Jay will perform two benefits for Hillel Academy Jewish day school, Nov. 2.

“It’s a big part of what I do,” he says. “I love helping worthy causes achieve their goals.”

On the road 300 days a year, Jay responded to The Observer’s interview questions via email between shows.

What can people expect from your performances in Dayton?
Well, everything I perform I create, and often my favorite part of the process is the months and years it takes to develop original magic pieces. So everything I perform onstage you can only see me do. It’s a mix of magic and mentalism and close-up sleight of hand.

What’s the youngest age for kids who will appreciate your show?
I work entirely clean, but it is an adult show. I’d say 12 and above is ideal.

How did you break into professional magic? What was your family’s reaction when you became a professional magician?
My father was a dentist, but he loved magic and used it to show patients between procedures. So we did it together for many years. He and my mom have always been so supportive and encouraging. My mom now travels all over the world to watch me perform shows in far-off places.

Did you have mentors?
I grew up in Canton, where there really were no master magicians to teach me. This meant I had to create my own stuff — terrible stuff at first — but I look back fondly on how isolated I was, and how I created magic out of necessity. That was a fun and useful skill to develop early.

Who are your favorite magicians, the ones who inspire you the most?
The person who is widely accepted as the greatest living magician is totally unknown to most of the public in the United States. He’s from Spain and his name is Juan Tamariz. He’ll be studied for hundreds of years for his contributions to magic and even magic philosophy.

And our craft is small enough that I get the incredible opportunity to go to Spain every summer, to stay at his summer villa, and study with him. We swap tricks and I get advice on whatever I’m working on. It’s tremendous.

I’m aware that you give talks on ‘Tragic Magic’ (tricks that have been fatal to magicians, assistants, or spectators). Have you done illusions that have put you in physical or emotional danger?
Years ago, I did a rendition of the Bullet Catch. And I do a needle-swallowing in the same way that Houdini did it years ago. But having done the research on dangerous magic, I can tell you that I have no desire to do that kind of thing when I can avoid it.

Have you ever done any talks or presentations on Jews and magic?
Many! It’s an area of study I’m fascinated by for this simple reason: Why is it that Jewish people make up .2% of the world population, yet in our field I would estimate, conservatively, that 30% of noteworthy magicians in history are Jewish? There’s an almost “magical” impulse in our field among Jewish people. It’s incredible.

The most famous magician in history? Houdini (Jewish). The most famous magicians right now? Copperfield and David Blaine (both Jewish). The most accomplished mentalist? Max Maven (Jewish). The best coin magician to ever live? David Roth (Jewish). The best magician at the turn of the 20th century? Max Malini (Jewish). The most revered sleight-of-hand magician of my era? Ricky Jay (Jewish).

The list goes on and on and on. I have done many talks exploring why this might be. And I find the topic endlessly fascinating.

Anything else we should know about you and your magic?
I hope everyone can stay after. I love meeting folks after my shows and thanking them for coming!

Magician Joshua Jay will present two performances as benefits for Hillel Academy, 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2 at the University of Dayton Roger Glass Center for the Arts, 29 Creative Way, Dayton. Tickets are $33-$78 and are available at daytonhillel.org/events.

To read the complete October 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.